Contacts – Tech Savvy Life

How to Dial an Extension and Save to Contacts on iPhone

This post provides instructions on how to dial an extension on an iPhone and how to add an extension to a phone number in iPhone Contacts.

RAYMOND OGLESBY @RaymondOglesby2
April 16, 2024

This is for the iPhone. Screenshots are from iPhone 14 Pro running iOS 17+

Do you regularly call extensions for your work or personal phone calls? If so, you are probably sick of dialing through phone trees to reach the person you want to reach. We will show you how to dial an extension on iPhone to skip the whole phone-tree nonsense, and how to add an extension to a phone number in Contacts for later use.

We will start by showing you how to dial an extension on your iPhone. Then, in the next section, we will cover how to add an extension to a phone number in iPhone Contacts.

Dial an Extension

Open the Phone app, and tap the Keypad tab if it is not already selected.
Dial the main number you are calling, then tap and HOLD the “*” key (asterisk) until a comma appears. The comma acts as a pause and lets your phone know it’s dialing an extension.
Now enter the extension number after the comma.
Tap the green phone Call button and you will dial straight to the person you are trying to reach.

Refer to the below image:

Extension 1 — Dialing a phone number with an extension using the keypad

That’s all there is to it! Now, you know how to dial an extension on your iPhone.

Add Extension to a Contact

If you plan to regularly call a phone number extension, you can save it in your Contacts. That way, the next time you go to dial the extension, it will already be saved as it needs to be dialed.

Open the Contacts app.
Tap on the contact if you want to add an extension. If you do not already have the number saved, simply create a new contact by tapping the “+” plus icon.
Tap Edit in the upper-right corner.
Tap the number you are adding the extension to, or tap the “+” icon next to the phone to add a new phone number for the contact.
Tap the Symbols button on your keyboard.
Now tap the Pause button.
Now enter the extension.
Tap Done to save.

See the below image:

Extension 2 — Adding a phone number with an extension to a Contact

Now you can dial an extension before you even get to the operator, and you can also add an extension to a phone number in your iPhone Contacts.

Disclaimer

Technology is always changing and rarely is there static tech for smartphones and desktops. Thus, the contents of this post are only valid at the time of writing. Blog posts older than six months may have directions incompatible with your device or OS. Hopefully, older post content will continue to work as advertised. Thank you for reading TechSavvy.Life for Technology at Work For You.

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How to Delete Duplicate Contacts on iPhone

The process of storing your contacts’ information on your device is not always foolproof. iCloud errors or syncing issues between your iPhone and email account can cause contacts to be duplicated on your phone.

RAYMOND OGLESBY @RaymondOglesby2
November 8, 2022

The process of storing your contacts’ information on your device is not always foolproof. iCloud errors or syncing issues between your iPhone and email account can cause contacts to be duplicated on your phone. Thankfully, this issue has a few easy fixes to take care of the duplicates. Here’s how to do it.

This is for the iPhone. Screenshots are from iPhone 14 Pro running iOS 16+

Dilbert and Engineer — *Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS*

Method 1: Manually Delete Duplicate Contacts

First, locate the Contacts app icon and tap to open. Scroll through your list of contacts until you find the duplicate entry you wish to delete and tap to open. Refer to the below image:

Next, tap the Edit button in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. See the below image:

Now, scroll down to the bottom of the screen to find the Delete Contact option. Tap this to delete the contact. See the following image:

A small pop-up will appear asking you to confirm your deletion. Tap Delete Contact again to remove the duplicate. Refer to the below image:

Method 2: Merge and Delete Duplicates

In order to get rid of all duplicate contacts on your iPhone and clean up your contacts so you only have one contact card for each individual, follow these steps.

First, open up the Contacts app. If you have duplicate contacts, a pop-up message will appear under your card at the top of the display (if you do not see this message, see the Pop-Up Message section below). Tap on View Duplicates. See the below image:

Duplicates 5 — Duplicates Found pop-up message

Next, to merge all contacts, tap on the Merge All button at the bottom of your screen. See the following image:

Next, to merge one contact, select a duplicate entry and tap the Merge button at the bottom of your screen. Refer to the below image:

Pop-Up Message

The pop-up window beneath your card is problematic. If you do not see the pop-up, scroll all the way to the bottom of your Contacts and tap the Duplicates Found link. See the below image:

Duplicates 8 — Accessing duplicates at bottom of contacts

Now, select a duplicate entry or Merge All. See the following image where we selected a duplicate contact card:

Next, tap the Merge button at the bottom of your screen. Refer to the below image:

Your duplicated contacts will then be transferred to one contact card and combine all the unique information from each extra card.

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How to Enable Two Important Features on iPhone

On the iPhone, there are two features you should be using; the SOS Contacts and Comprised Passwords.

On the iPhone, there are two features you should be using; the SOS Contacts and Comprised Psswords. Let’s explore how to use these two features.

This is for iPhone running iOS 14+

Dilbert and Hackers — *Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS*

Create a SOS Contact

First, ensure that your most important people are in your Contacts. Now, search for your Health app either from your App Library (your last screen) or the Spotlight Search (your first screen). We are using the Spotlight Search. Just type the name “health” in the search box (without the quotes) and click the result. Refer to below image:

Next, the Summary screen will be displayed. Now, click the Review Medical ID Access link. See Below image:

Features 2 — Displaying your Health Summary screen

Next, the Emergency Access to Medical ID screen will be displayed. Click on the Review Medical ID button at the bottom. See following image:

Features 3 — Displaying your Medical ID screen

Now, your Emergency Contacts will be shown (if any). Click on add emergency contact to add a SOS contact you want notified in case of an emergency. Refer to below image:

Features 4 — Displaying your Emergency Contacts and add one

SOS also contacts emergency services. A red asterisk icon will now appear next to Emergency Contacts in your Contacts list.

To send an SOS, hold down the power button on the right and one of the volume buttons on the left at same time. You can either use the Emergency SOS slider, or keep holding the button. A countdown will start, an alert will sound, and when the call goes through to 911, messages are sent to your Emergency Contacts. See below image:

Features 5 — Accessing your Emergency SOS slider

Security Recommendations

iOS 14 features Security Recommendations, which are handy if you store a lot of passwords in iOS, be it for apps or website visits. It will tell you if a password appeared in a known data breach/leak, and suggest you make changes if you have repeated passwords (because that is a big no-no).

First, launch your Settings (the gear icon) app. See following image:

Next, scroll down and tap the Passwords option. Refer to below image:

Features 7 — Accessing your Passwords option

Now, the Security Recommendations screen will be shown. The number to the right indicates security risks found. Next, tap on the label. See below image:

Features 8 — Your number of security risks

Now, on the Security Recommendations screen, toggle Detected Comprised Passwords to On. Next, go through your list of compromised passwords and click the Change Password link as necessary. See following image:

Features 9 — Enabling the Detect Comprised Passwords toggle and reviewing your risks

Note! Some of your comprised passwords may be from old leaks. You know you have changed it since the date of the leak. If so, click the label to open the entry, then click Delete Password.

Next, go back to your Security Recommendations screen to check if your comprised passwords has been resolved. Now, exit Settings.

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That’s it. You have now setup two important features on the iPhone. Please feel free to share this post! One way to share is via Twitter.

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How to Set Contacts Name Order on iPhone and iPad

If your iPhone or iPad is displaying contact names differently than what you want, like last name before the first name (or vice versa,) you can fix it. This will change how names appear in Mail, Messages, Phone, Contacts, and other apps that follow this setting.

If your iPhone or iPad is displaying contact names differently than what you want, like last name before the first name (or vice versa,) you can fix it. This will change how names appear in Mail, Messages, Phone, Contacts, and other apps that follow this setting.

This is for iPhone and iPad

Dilbert and News — *Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS*

First, launch Settings (the gear icon). Refer to below image:

Next, scroll down to the Contacts option and tap it. See below image:

Now, in the Contacts settings, tap Display Order. See following image:

Display 3 — Accessing Display Order option

In Display Order you have two choices. Choose whichever one you prefer. Refer to below image:

Display 4 — Selecting your Display Order preference

The Short Name feature in the Contacts settings also determines how you will see names in apps such as Mail. With Short Name enabled, the app may display only a first name instead of the full name order you just set. See below image:

By default, Short Name is enabled. If you would like to see a full name with the order you just chose instead, tap the switch to turn Short Name off. See following image:

Display 6 — Enable/disable Short Name option

Now, tap Back once, then exit Settings.

The next time you use an app that pulls information from your contacts (like Apple’s Mail app), you will see the names in the order you just set. If you do not see the changes reflected yet, you might need to exit the application first so it can reload the settings. Then, tap the app icon to launch it again.

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